Chasing the Spotlight by Sarah Anne Sumpolec

Author:Sarah Anne Sumpolec [Sumpolec, Sarah Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Religious / Christian / Social Issues, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Peer Pressure
ISBN: 9781684282302
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Published: 2021-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

All weekend I worried that the source of the flyer was a member of the cast. I reassured myself that everything would get back to normal once Ms. Larkin returned. She’d get the show on track, Peter Pan would be great, and in the process, my parents would see my commitment to musical theater. Over the weekend I also replayed on endless loop the glorious fifteen minutes I got to play Peter. Yeah, I would have been a great Peter.

But Monday didn’t bring Ms. Larkin. Instead it brought an early morning email from her. She said she needed to be away a few more days. I felt sick to my stomach.

I got Mom to take me to school early again, and I went straight to Mrs. Copeland’s room. She listened as I explained the flyer, then said, “I don’t know what you’re asking me to do.”

“You have to talk to the cast and tell whoever did this to stop.” I hitched up my backpack.

Mrs. Copeland took off her reading glasses. “You have spoken with Mrs. Ventrella?”

I gave her a nod. “But—”

She put her hand up. “We need to leave this in the hands of the administration.”

Instead of arguing, I went to Mrs. Rinaldi’s room and made the same plea. Mrs. Rinaldi taught and conducted the pit orchestra so that we had live music to sing along with instead of a canned track. She shook her head. “I’m not touching this with a ten-foot pole.”

“We can’t just ignore it,” I said.

“What do you hope to accomplish by addressing this issue? These girls will be even more mortified, and whoever is responsible clearly doesn’t care.”

I sighed. “Still. Shouldn’t we do something?”

“Let’s see what Ms. Larkin says when she gets back and speaks with Mrs. Ventrella. But it will blow over . . . eventually. These things always do.”

I was frustrated and helpless. I didn’t agree that it would blow over for the girls on that list. But if the adults refused to address it, what could I do?

During Drama 1, I stayed busy checking in with each fundraising group and gathering photos to post on the school account.

Izzy, Shay, and Tessa launched Operation Encouragement by doing something for each girl. Izzy, of course, made special cupcakes for her girls and delivered them to their homes. Shay wrapped up a daily encouragement calendar for Fatima, and Tessa bought lunch for Corinna and ate with her. I gave Jenna a really cool card with a black-and-white photo of the Eiffel Tower and a little notebook to match. She didn’t even let on that she’d gotten it.

Though I hadn’t heard anything from Jenna, it occurred to me that some kind of encouragement might boost the morale of the entire cast.

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